Julian Mininsohn
Sports Editor
The Citizens Business Bank Arena was packed with over 5,200 fans on Saturday. It was not for a Los Angeles Lakers preseason game, or even an Ontario Reign hockey match. It was for indoor soccer. It was an attendance record for the Professional Arena Soccer League. And it was only a preseason game.
The Ontario Fury defeated Toros de Mexico, 16-8, in its inaugural game as a new organization of the PASL Saturday at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario.
The Fury’s offensive onslaught led to a quick start from which Toros could not recover.
“It was a really good game today,” Fury goalkeeper Manny Kaji said. “We played as a unit and we communicated well with each other.”
Between Kaji and goalkeeper Sanaldo ,the Fury stopped 21 of 29 Toros shots on goal.
The Fury scored three unanswered goals to start the game and outscored Toros 6-2 after the first quarter.
“We didn’t know what to expect,” Fury head coach and team president Bernie Lilavois said. “We got a couple goals early and I think the guys settled down a little bit.”
Two of those first quarter goals came from Fury midfielder Israel Sesay.
“We came out strong,” Sesay said. “I think it went well.”
Sesay and Fury defender Miguel Sanchez combined for half of the Fury’s total first half goals. Each scored two goals respectively.
The Fury had an 8-3 halftime lead.
Toros won the third quarter outscoring the Fury 3-2, cutting the lead to 10-6 heading into the final period of play.
Despite the lack of offensive production for Toros, forward Gerardo Villa was a bright spot offensively. He had a game-high five goals. He recorded one assist as well.
“We still made a lot of mistakes on the field,” Lilavois said. “Off the field there are a lot of the things we are going to look at this week.”
“The guys will get a little bit more fit and we will get better. That is the key, to get better every day.”
With the score 11-7 in the final quarter, the Fury outscored Toros 5-1 for the rest of the game to seal the victory.
Two of those goals in the final stretch of the game came from Fury forward Tino Nuñez.
Nuñez recorded one assist for the game as well.
“We want to go out and win the championship,” Sesay said. “I think with the kind of guys we have we can definitely go all the way.”
The Fury will take its first win as an organization into the regular season as it takes on the Dallas Sidekicks at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 10 at Citizens Bank Arena in Ontario.
Julian Mininsohn can be reached at julian.mininsohn@laverne.edu.
